CHAMARAJANAGAR: The perceived jinx surrounding Chamarajanagar continues, and Chief Minister N. Dharam Singh will not be inaugurating the district office complex here on Friday. It will be Deputy Chief Minister M.P. Prakash who will do the honours.

The popular belief is that a Chief Minister who visits Chamarajanagar will lose power within months. The late D. Devaraj Urs, the late Veerendra Patil, the late R. Gundu Rao, the late Ramakrishna Hegde, and S.R. Bommai were dethroned after visiting Chamarajanagar town. So deeply entrenched is the superstitious belief, that even self-proclaimed socialists such as S. Bangarappa and the late J.H. Patel too steered clear of the town. Patel inaugurated the district of Chamarajanagar, which was formed when he was the Chief Minister, from M.M. Hills. The former Chief Minister, who is now the Maharashtra Governor, S.M. Krishna, too kept away from Chamarajanagar town, though he visited Yelandur in the district along with Congress President Sonia Gandhi.

The former Deputy Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, speaking at the inauguration of the District and Sessions Court in Chamarajanagar town on September 25, 2004, said he did not believe in the superstition that Chamarajanagar is jinxed. But Mr. Siddaramaiah was removed from the post of Deputy Chief Minister within a year.

The district office complex has been built at a cost of Rs.16.60 crores. It will house 46 district-level departments. The complex has a canteen, a bank, a post office, a meeting hall, an auditorium and 10 shops.

The office of the Superintendent of Police and the district sub-jail will also be inaugurated on the same day.

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